A slightly scary experience

Has anyone ever experienced the downright creepiness of having a random person, or someone you have seen around town, come up to you as you are either getting in or out of your car? I have! Yesterday, when I was stopping by Larry's House of Cakes to pick up a cupcake for Tara, a creepy guy, that has come to our church once in a while, decided he would come and say hi after I had just pulled in to the parking lot. Seeing how my mother has handled this type of situation before, I remained calm, turned the car back on, locked the door, and rolled down the window a smidge to ask politely, yet forcefully, what the man needed. He replied that he wanted to say hi, and also asked what I was doing out. To this I replied, "Some things". I mean, seriously, I don't think it was his business to know what my plans were. The scariest part about all of this is that I had just dropped the kids at the park with some of their friends and therefore I was all alone. It turned out that I finally got rid of him and I decided to wait a few minutes to go in since I was kind of parked at the end of the parking lot. The encouraging thing was that there were a few people around so I was fairly safe. I am so grateful that God protected me, that I was still in my car, and that I had my cell phone. Whew! I don't know if he noticed, but I was certainly scared.

Relax and loosen up!

This has been quite a day! I had to teach a portion of a class in our homeschool co-op, run a mile for PE, and make a presentation in worldview class (which was an autobiography collage that I worked super hard on). I am relieved to have all of that done, but, tonight I started to feel the stress rise in me again as my mother and I began to discuss options for me after high school. (For those of you who are wondering, I am only a junior, so I have one more year of high school left.) Mom kept asking me, "Do you want to study this, or this, or this?" To which I kept saying, "No, no, and more no's". I don't understand why I am so particular about my life and why I have so much trouble making decisions? I guess it is just because my life is so important to me and I don't want to waste any part of it on something that is not going to be worth my time. Sometimes I just need to relax, not think so hard, and loosen up! I sure look loose in this picture! Ha! Ha!

(I actually used this picture on my collage!)

It is done!

Tonight, at Reality, what really stuck out to me during the message was that Jesus death on the resurrection already took care of all the sin I would commit years later (right now). I can't tell you how much peace entered my heart when I was reminded of that. In my previous post I mentioned the movie "Passion of the Christ" and how when I think about it, my heart is softened once again to the price Jesus paid for my sins. I never want to forget what He went through for me. My mind is constantly fighting fears and worries, but tonight I got a deeper revelation of how I am redeemed from fear because over 2,000 years ago Jesus conquered the same fear I struggle with everyday. It can no longer hold me back!! Thank you, Jesus!

Jesus death and resurrection was a gift for you and I.

I know I am a little late for the Easter message, but I want to reiterate the importance of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Whenever I see clips from the Passion of the Christ I wonder how I still live in complacency. Why do I still take Jesus death as "nothing much". Just saying that makes me feel horrible, but I am guilty of getting used to talking about Jesus sacrifice and not really seeing it for what it really was. It's time to truly remember the price that Jesus paid for my sins and start living a life that is worthy of Him. I encourage you to do the same.

Spring Is Coming

This song has ministered to me during the times in my life when I have gone through some heartache and pain. It's funny, because when it was most monumental in my life was right when winter was ending and spring was really coming. I pray this will minister to your heart the way it has mine.

The Protection of God

Last night we had a storm sweep through our little town of Carbondale, but it seemed like there was a wall of protection around us. We figured the storm had just past over us, but this morning when Lucas got on the internet he found, that in town, schools were closed, there were power outages, and even the roof on the new police station was ripped off. I am so grateful we are not out of power and we didn't even have any damages. The crazy thing is that we were just minding our own business last night when Nathan called from Portland, Oregon saying that he saw on TV that a major storm was coming through the small town next to us. People were saying it had the potential to be the worst storm in the spring. Thank God the predictions were wrong and that His hand of protection was upon us.

The Shunning

There is a new movie playing on Hallmark right now called "The Shunning". It is based off of the book written by Beverly Lewis. Hannah and I went to our grandparents house today to watch it only to realize that I had gotten the date wrong of when it was playing. I was slightly frustrated considering our family doesn't have TV, so I will have to watch it later. Just so you know, the book is awesome, so I expect the movie to be good too.

I can't wait for school to be out!!!

I had a great day today! I finished an elective class I was taking at our homeschool co-op that was a study of Hamlet, which is a play written by Shakespeare. It is a very sad book and pretty much everyone dies in the end. But, at least I finished the class with a good grade (I think). Right now I am trying to press through my school reminding myself that I only have a few weeks left. And, after this year I only have one more year of high school. Whew hoo!!!! I can taste the end. But, after high school I go to college and do more work. So, pretty much, the work never ends. I guess that is just the way life is.

This is for you to laugh

This is for you to laugh. I was looking at the camera, in front of me, with my mouth hanging open. I tend to do that when I am concentrating. However, yesterday in my piano recital, I made it a point to keep my mouth closed. I kind of looked unhappy, but at least my mouth stayed closed. By the way, keep an eye out for my new videos on youtube and the second page on my blog titled "My Pictures and Videos".

Disclosure: this was the first video I put on youtube and was intended for a test run.

Todays ramblings

My day was spent on exercising in my pajamas while pushing my niece in a stroller, dealing with children who are burning up because of the high humidity, and going to a piano recital that was quite awkward. My grandparents said I played my piano piece well, but grandparents always say that. Lets just say that I didn't feel quite as good about my song until they convinced me I did great. I was also slightly frustrated to see that one of my piano teachers students had arranged his own song for todays recital. You might be wondering why I am so upset about this. Well, the fact is, I have been wanting to do the same thing for years but figured that my teacher would be against it. Needless to say, I am definately going to ask her about it next year (or sooner). I don't know if I am making much since, but these are among the many things I have experienced today.

A slightly difficult day

I have had an interesting day. Dad went into the hospital last night at midnight because his heart was beating to fast. He normally has that problem once in about every ten years after he drinks a frozen slushie (Which is what happened last night. I know it is weird). Today has been a little bit hard functioning at our homeschool co-op without mom and waiting for Dad's heart to kick back into normal rhythm again. However, it was good to know that his problem was not life threatening. His heart finally went back into normal rhythm at about 4:20. He is expected to come home today in about three hours. Be praying that he fully recovers and doesn't have any more arithmea problems.

Input, anyone?

Have you ever felt like there is something inside of you that you can't get out? That's how I feel. There is a passion growing in me to compose my own music (for the piano). But, I feel like I am to much of a perfectionist to do it. If it doesn't sound perfect, I figure there is no reason to try. I know I have come up with some pretty pieces, but, they are all to short. I don't know if anyone can associate with this feeling. Does anyone have any input for me?

One night with the king

                                          I Love this song and this movie!!!!
      It brings back special memories from seeing it in theaters several years back.

My ten day trip

We had a fun trip this week and are on our way home at this very moment. It seems like we have been gone forever. (Even though it was only 10 days) I am so ready to go to my room and be alone for a little while. Traveling with 10 people for 10 days can be interesting. Our first day away was spent in Tulsa, Oklahoma, my home town, as well as the second and third day. Then we hit the road again and visited our cousins and aunt and uncle in Oklahoma City. After spending a few days there, we went to Tyler, Texas for mom to speak to the female interns at the Honor Academy. I got to go with her to the campus and help her make a few connections and drop off some more books at the warehouse. I drove back to Tyler leaving mom on campus to eat lunch with Katie Luce while I drove back to Tyler to meet the kids. It was kind off scary driving back all by  myself; however, it was a good experience. The rest of the trip we spent working on the ATF event in Dallas, Texas. Overall, I believe it was a great success.